Coleridge

A Dublin professor has unearthed 300 poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge after a 20-year search that took him to five continents, the Sunday Times reported. The discovery could lead to a reappraisal of Coleridge, one of the great names of English literature best known for the poems Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The new finds confirm Coleridge's eccentric reputation, according to the Sunday Times. One is an elegy to his broken shaving pot. ''There are texts about buggery, gout, ingrown fingernails and lesbian lovers,'' the paper said.

There is a famous story about Samuel Taylor Coleridge, author of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. He was writing a different poem, which began, "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree." He was interrupted by a knock at the door. This was an age before telephones. Someone was delivering a message. When Coleridge got back to his poem, he had lost his inspiration. His poetic mood had been utterly shattered by the knock on his door. In Xanadu would never be more than a glittering, tantalizing fragment.

Writers' lives are explored in these paperbacks:CONTRADICTORY NATUREVirginia Woolf, by Hermione Lee (Vintage, $18): Lee's intelligent literary biography is essential reading for Woolf fans, but one needs some familiarity with the mercurial subject's works and life story to truly appreciate Lee's insights. She largely eschews the chronological in favor of themed chapters - ``Abuses,'' ``Liaisons,'' ``Leonard,'' ``Money and Fame'' - to delve into Woolf's contradictory nature, of which the writer herself was keenly aware.

ADAM SMIRCICH, 93, 4500 Coleridge Ave., Titusville, died Tuesday. Born in Yugoslavia, he moved to Titusville from Plant City in 1980. He was a retired construction contractor. He was a member of St. Teresa's Catholic Church. Survivors: sons, Tom, Peter, both of Titusville; daughter, Mary Oramas, Long Island, N.Y.; 11 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild. Brevard Funeral Home North, Titusville.

A surprising thing British journalist Nicholas Coleridge discovered as he set out last year to duplicate Phileas Fogg's fictional 80-day circle of the globe by land and sea is that the trip's no faster or easier now than it was back in the heyday of the British Empire.In fact, when Fogg, the Jules Verne creation, made his legendary journey, two-thirds of his route crossed British territory. Today, the same path ''meanders,'' as Coleridge put it, ''through virtually every no-go area on the map. Wherever there is now a terminal visa problem there went Fogg.

THE CHAIRMAN of Lloyd's of London said Monday he would step down at the end of the year, but he said he had paved the way for reforms in the troubled insurance market where some investors have lost millions. David Coleridge said he had nominated David Rowland, chairman of the Sedgwick Group PLC insurance brokerage, as his successor and that the Lloyd's governing council had accepted the nomination.

In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decreeWhere Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to manDown to a sunless sea.In 1763, the famed botanist John Bartram passed through Florida, then a British possession. Bartram was here to observe the plants and wildlife. With him was his son, Billy.While the father conducted research, Billy wrote extensively in his journal about the colony. His writing was vivid and in 1791 he published a book about his findings. It was a success, and for the first time, the world had an idea of Florida's lush vegetation and beautiful streams and rivers.

Writers' lives are explored in these paperbacks:CONTRADICTORY NATUREVirginia Woolf, by Hermione Lee (Vintage, $18): Lee's intelligent literary biography is essential reading for Woolf fans, but one needs some familiarity with the mercurial subject's works and life story to truly appreciate Lee's insights. She largely eschews the chronological in favor of themed chapters - ``Abuses,'' ``Liaisons,'' ``Leonard,'' ``Money and Fame'' - to delve into Woolf's contradictory nature, of which the writer herself was keenly aware.

Famous lives unfold in these new paperbacks:PORTRAIT OF A POETColeridge: Early Visions, by Richard Holmes (Penguin, $9.95): Wordsworth called Samuel Taylor Coleridge ''the most wonderful man'' he had ever known, and Holmes shows us why. Because Coleridge was more than just a Romantic poet (''Kubla Khan,'' ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'') with a fondness for opium and mysticism. He was also journalist, translator, critic, playwright, philosopher, lecturer, amateur naturalist, prodigious letter-writer and relentless autobiographer.

`Water, water everywhere.Nor any drop to drink.'' When Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned those lines, did he perhaps have a hunch that they would still be remembered and recited 200 years later? Maybe that particular phrase wasn't his favorite from among all his verses and lectures, but a man of his aptitude surely would feel in his marrow that his words were calculated for immortality. Especially with the prod of high school teachers everywhere.Sam would surely be pleased that his imperishable words stirred again in my head when catastrophe paid a call this week at our house.

Two retired researchers who spent more than 30 years studying the active ingredient in pepper spray have asked police to stop using the spray until there is more research on its effects on the human heart.''Until one knows its full effects, it would be better to lay off,'' said Dr. John Coleridge, who along with his wife, Dr. Hazel Coleridge, called for a voluntary statewide moratorium in California on pepper spray use by police.''We intend no criticism of police, but we think that it is a dangerous substance to put into the hands of anyone and that police should really consider other ways to restrain violent people,'' the two ex-University of California at San Francisco researchers said.

A Dublin professor has unearthed 300 poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge after a 20-year search that took him to five continents, the Sunday Times reported. The discovery could lead to a reappraisal of Coleridge, one of the great names of English literature best known for the poems Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The new finds confirm Coleridge's eccentric reputation, according to the Sunday Times. One is an elegy to his broken shaving pot. ''There are texts about buggery, gout, ingrown fingernails and lesbian lovers,'' the paper said.

One evening in the fall of 1797 in a lonely Exmoor farmhouse, Samuel Taylor Coleridge fell into an opium-induced sleep. Upon awakening, he immediately began writing down the poem that had come to him in his reverie, finishing some 55 lines before he was interrupted by a visitor. When Coleridge returned to his poem an hour or so later, he discovered he could remember only a few more lines and images from the dream. And so ''Kubla Khan'' remained a fragment, although a very famous one, its first few lines known not only to students of English literature the world over but also to many '60s hippies who thought Coleridge was one cool dude.

THE CHAIRMAN of Lloyd's of London said Monday he would step down at the end of the year, but he said he had paved the way for reforms in the troubled insurance market where some investors have lost millions. David Coleridge said he had nominated David Rowland, chairman of the Sedgwick Group PLC insurance brokerage, as his successor and that the Lloyd's governing council had accepted the nomination.

Famous lives unfold in these new paperbacks:PORTRAIT OF A POETColeridge: Early Visions, by Richard Holmes (Penguin, $9.95): Wordsworth called Samuel Taylor Coleridge ''the most wonderful man'' he had ever known, and Holmes shows us why. Because Coleridge was more than just a Romantic poet (''Kubla Khan,'' ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'') with a fondness for opium and mysticism. He was also journalist, translator, critic, playwright, philosopher, lecturer, amateur naturalist, prodigious letter-writer and relentless autobiographer.

Two retired researchers who spent more than 30 years studying the active ingredient in pepper spray have asked police to stop using the spray until there is more research on its effects on the human heart.''Until one knows its full effects, it would be better to lay off,'' said Dr. John Coleridge, who along with his wife, Dr. Hazel Coleridge, called for a voluntary statewide moratorium in California on pepper spray use by police.''We intend no criticism of police, but we think that it is a dangerous substance to put into the hands of anyone and that police should really consider other ways to restrain violent people,'' the two ex-University of California at San Francisco researchers said.

One evening in the fall of 1797 in a lonely Exmoor farmhouse, Samuel Taylor Coleridge fell into an opium-induced sleep. Upon awakening, he immediately began writing down the poem that had come to him in his reverie, finishing some 55 lines before he was interrupted by a visitor. When Coleridge returned to his poem an hour or so later, he discovered he could remember only a few more lines and images from the dream. And so ''Kubla Khan'' remained a fragment, although a very famous one, its first few lines known not only to students of English literature the world over but also to many '60s hippies who thought Coleridge was one cool dude.

When he was a graduate student sweating out his dissertation on William Blake, Zachary Leader got the idea for a multidisciplinary exploration of writer's block. This dread literary ailment afflicts lowly Ph.D. candidates no less than great authors, often driving victims crazy or to drink.Coleridge took opium. Hemingway shot himself. Leader wrote what may be the first book on the subject that doesn't attempt to be helpful, Writer's Block (The Johns Hopkins University Press, $26.95). It is a theoretical and historical account, bristling with footnotes and erudition, none of it intended to increase your productivity.

In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decreeWhere Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to manDown to a sunless sea.In 1763, the famed botanist John Bartram passed through Florida, then a British possession. Bartram was here to observe the plants and wildlife. With him was his son, Billy.While the father conducted research, Billy wrote extensively in his journal about the colony. His writing was vivid and in 1791 he published a book about his findings. It was a success, and for the first time, the world had an idea of Florida's lush vegetation and beautiful streams and rivers.